The Art of Stealing Cars by Kara Tezla

Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the Acceleracers Characters. although I wish I did And I do not own Trinity Wheeler and Co., those belong to Wings of Speed.

Summary: The Teku and the Metal Maniacs go to LA to race, but what happens when their cars start disappearing?

Author's Note: Here it is! and that's all for now, folks

Chapter Twelve: Arrival

"Your brother is the weirdest guy I have ever met in my entire life." Vert said a while after they had started back on the road again; this time with Kara driving.

"Really, what he say?" Kara asked; intrigued.

Vert didn't know what to say; would he tell her the truth? "Um... I don't think you want to know." He finally said.

"Oh-ho-ho, I think I'll find out if you don't tell me." She said threateningly, knowing that she couldn't do anything to ever hurt Vert, not even blackmail. She actually thought that if Vert liked her, then she could give him a chance.

Vert didn't know that though. "Uh... I--er, he--"

"Vert! I was just kidding... even though I probably could if I wanted too."

"Oh, haha, funny," He said nervously.

Kara laughed. "You just crack me up, Vert, you know that?"

Silence blanketed the car for a couple moments that seemed like eternity to Vert. What now?

"Wow. This car handles great, Vert. Where'd you get it?"

"Tezla," He said mindlessly.

Kara's head whipped towards him; a look of complete disbelief crossed her face. "My uncle doesn't build cars!" She exclaimed. "No way!"

Vert slapped himself inwardly. "No! That's not what I meant... he supplied all the parts and we all built cars."

She glared at him suspiciously. "We?"

"Um, us; the Teku. A couple Maniacs did too."

"Hm," She said thoughtfully. "So... you built it?" Kara fingered the shifting stick under her right hand, the smooth leather played under her fingers like silk.

"...Yeah, I did,"

"Cool," She grinned, bringing up the small inside joke.

Vert chuckled. "Cool,"

VVVVVVVVVV

After another six hours and a rest stop, they arrived before the private drive of Doctor Peter Tezla.

Kara's cell phone rang. Picking it up she saw Mark's cell number flash across the small screen. "Mark,"

"Yeah, Kara? We got seventeen cars here, do you think your uncle has enough room for all of us?"

Kara grinned. "Wait until you see his house, then you tell me." She said, then hung up.

"Who was that?" Asked Vert, who was back in the passenger's seat.

"Just Mark. He wanted to know if Uncle Peter had room for all of us."

"And... does he?"

"Oh yeah, nobody's gonna even have to share a room."

"What about our cars?"

Kara laughed. "You know that portal-thing that I told you about?"

"Yeah?"

"That is where are cars are gonna go." They pulled up to a giant mansion that was built into the side of a giant mountain, which everyone assumed was Pike's Peak. Kara pulled Reverb up beside Adrianna's Mustang and rolled down the window. Mark, who was in the passenger's seat, did the same.

"Where do we go with the cars?" He asked, motioning to the giant house. "I don't see a garage,"

"Ah, yes. Follow me," She said before rolling up the window. "Here we go,"

Pulling the key chain out of her jacket again, she pressed a little round button that sat on a car key. A door opened in the side of the mountain, revealing a dark tunnel. Kara turned to Vert. "Where's the lights on this thing?" She asked.

Vert reached across her to the left side of the steering wheel, careful not to touch her in any way. He flicked a switch and fluorescent lights flashed on and lit up the tunnel ahead; it was still dark. Kara revved the engine and Vert was thrown back in his seat as Reverb's tires burned and they shot into the darkness. She pulled the car into a sharp turn and brought it to a stop right next to a black car that couldn't be identified in the dark. Kara pushed the door open and jumped out; disappearing into the inky blackness. Other cars pulled in and settled next to Reverb, they too weren't identifiable until lights flickered on from above and the cars were turned off.

Vert stepped out of Reverb after pulling the key out of the ignition. Kara had been right, an exact copy of the AcceleDrome Track sat in the room, but a bit smaller. Actually, the whole room almost looked like the AcceleDrome without the towers and rooms, so it was a lot smaller. Instead, there were two cylindrical, glass elevators set into the wall of the room.

Kara was running back from turning on the lights, whose power came from a giant electrical fuse box on the wall. Alex ran over to her, closely followed by Mark.

"I'm gonna go make the announcement about our arrival to Uncle Peter." Said Alex, his momentum carrying him forward as he brushed past his sister.

Mark gave Kara a goofy grin as he started past her. "And I am going to accompany him!"

Kara grabbed Mark by his black jacket. "Oh, no you don't! I'm going up and you are going to stay down here with everybody else. I don't think Uncle Peter would be glad to know that the guy who blew the circuits last time has turned up at his house again."

"Oh yeah," Said Mark, amused at his own mishap. "I remember that! That was when--"

"Yeah, you plugged in all of the car sound systems in one outlet. He was really ticked when everything went out while he was working on his computer on that hologram project." She grinned. "You are in charge down here while I'm gone. Don't let anybody touch anything and, Mark? Don't plug anything into the outlets unless you absolutely know that it's an outlet and not a phone jack or an alternative energy source."

Mark gave her a solemn look. "How was I supposed to know what it was? It looked exactly like a outlet!"

"Whatever Mark, we all know the story." She replied before sprinting after her brother towards the elevators.

"'Whatever Mark, we all know the story.' Wah, wah, wah." Mark said in a mocking voice. "I wish they wouldn't bring that up every time I come here!"

VVVVVVVVVV

"Uncle Peter!" Alex called down the hallway. "We're here!"

"Shut up, idiot, he probably already knows." Kara said harshly, whacking her brother in the chest with the back of her hand. "His room is the last one on the left."

"O-kay! Then let's go!" He announced, and set off down the hallway. Kara followed him down and the opened the door.

"Could you guys be any louder?" Asked their uncle's scruffy voice.

"Yeah, but we chose not to be." Said Alex. "Nice to see you again, Uncle." All three of them hugged each other before Tezla broke the silence again.

"So where are your friends?" He asked.

"Did you think we'd bring all eighteen of them up here?"

"Knowing you, yes," He said.

Alex just grinned as they stepped out and headed back to the elevators. This was going to be a stay to remember.

ta-da! I've got the future chapters planned out already in my notebook, so it shouldn't take as long to post them; now I just gotta find time to do so! But right now, I'm hyper-happy because one of my favorite TV shows just premiered again I'm pretty sure it's third season on SciFi... Ghost Hunters! Yay! They had it off for the longest time... Well, now to my precious REVIEWERS!

Brenda: Cool. Thanks for reviewing!

Wings: Another chapter WILL be riding the heels of this one if I can get it typed up! And, haha, yeah, freaking out calls for laughing.

Kawaii: Review properly? Is there a correct way to REVIEW PROPERLY? Jeez. I can tell Alex that I... ack! I mean, YOU feel for him. laughing I know about 3 Alex's in real life alex tezla's personality is a mix of all of them, and if I were to tell any of them that "KawaiiYamato knows how you feel," they would stare at me like I had three heads. well, I know that one would, the one that goes by Al might make a comment back, and another would just laugh at me and tell me that I'm weird. And bare feet? raises an eyebrow